Mail-bag catcher for mail cars



April 20, 1926.

, M. HOULE MAIL BAG CATCHER FOR MAIL CARS 2,5hets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10, 1924 Elma 150'! Hederib'k fizzle 61am mag April 20,1926.

M. HOULE MAIL BAG CATCHER FOR MAIL CARS Filed Oct. 10, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Neck rick Houle fatented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES I 1 ssue PATENT orrlce.

MEDERICK HOULE, OF SWAINSBORO, NEVT HAMPSHIRE.

MAIL BAG CATCHER FOR MAIL CARS.

Application filed October 10, 1924. Serial No. 742,837.

MailBag Catchers for Mail Cars, ofwhich the following is a specification. v

The present invention has for its purpose to provide 111 a mail bag catcher for mail cars, a construction including a supporting housing provided with supporting arms, the latter being disposed transversely of the door opening and parallel with the side of the car including a jointed releasing device capable of collapsing when engaged with the mail bag, whereby the latter may be clamped against the supporting arms by means of a tensioned arm operatively mounted in said housing.

Another purpose is the provision of a device of this kind including a tensioned arm so disposed in an extended position when set that it will act to swing or throw the mail bag toward and clamp it upon parallel supporting arms which extend transversely of the door opening to permit easy access to the bag by the mail clerk.

It is to be understood that the particulars herein given are in no way limitative and that, while still keeping within the scope of the invention, any desired modifications of detail and desired proportions may be made in the apparatus according to the circumstances.

The invention comprises further features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a por tion of a mail car showing the catcher applied in accordance with the invention and in the act of engaging a mail bag supported in the usual manner alongside of the track.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view of a portion of the side of the mail car showing the catcher applied and the mail bag caught.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the supporting housing with the mail catcher set and illustrating the tensioning means for the movable mail bag catching arm.

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the two supporting arms showing an end jaw and illustrating the jointed arm in its extended position.

' Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a mail car and 2 a supporting housing Secured in position by the holding plates 3, the housing being'disposed adjacent one side of the door opening, said housing havmg a pair of parallel arms 4. The arms project from the interior of the housing parallel with the upper and lower walls of the housing and are disposed transversely of the door opening and in a direction parallel with the side of the car. 1

The ends 5 of the arms 4 are secured in notches 6 of a plate 7 which acts to hold the arms 4 1n parallelism. This plate 7 is pro of the lower edge of the notch is rounded off outwardly and downwardly, acting to cam a mall bag catching arm. The upper edge of the notch 8 inclines upwardly and outwardly, also acting as a cam for cam ming the mail bag catching arm.

As previously stated, the housing is supported adjacent one side of the door opening upon the holding plate through the medium of a supporting stud 9 upon which the housing is rockably supported while the plate 7 has a socket 10 for the reception of a stud 11 which projects from the opposite jamb of the door opening in axial alignment with a similar stud 11 which is pivotally connected with and holding plate 3 and is carried by the door frame. By this construction, the housing and the parallel arms are capable of rotating or rocking substantially a quarter turn to permit the mail bag to be easily removed from the catcher.

Journaled in bearings of the parallel arms 4and encased in the housing is a drum 12 provided with groove 13 which receives a chain 14 andprojecting radially from the drum is a mail bag catching arm 15. One end of the chain is connected to an eye 16 carried by the base of the arm and the other end of the chain is connected to a tensioned coil spring 17 which, in turn, is connected to one wall of the housing.

The arm 15 operates through an elongated slot 18 in the wall of the housing and is long enough to engage the notch 8 when it is in clamping engagement with the mail bag. The extremity of the arm 15 cams against the wall'of the notch-until it engages with the crotch thereof. The end portion of the arm has an abutment lug 19 which contacts with one of the arms 4: when the mail bag catching arm is released. The abutment arm 19 contacts with one of the arms t about the same time that the arm engages with the crotch of the notch.

A mail bag tripping device consisting of a toggle arm 20 is pivoted as at 21, between the end portions of the parallel arms 4. This mail bag tripping device comprises the two toggle sections 22 and 23 pivotally hinged or jointed as at 2- by means of a pin. The section 23 operates in a bifurcation 25 ot the end of the section 22. The end of the section 23 is: rounded oil, as at 2 6, to permit the section 23 to collapse when a mail bag engages with the setting device. The section '23 has an abutment end 2 which abuts with the crotch of the bifurcation, as at 28.

The construction and arrangement of the pivot of the section with relation to the crotch of the biturcation are such as to re tain the section 23 extended at a slight angle to the section when the tripping device is disposed to hold the mail catching arm in an operative position. The extremity of the section has a rounded end 29 engaging a similarly formed notch 30 in the arm 15 for holding the arm 15 set in an operative position for catching the mail bag.

In operation, the device is held by the mail clerk or operator in the extended position shown in Figure 1. and when the mail bag contacts with the collapsible tripping device, the two sections 22 and 23 collapse in a direction toward the parallel arms t while the arm 15 is operated through the tension of the spring for catching and clamping the mail bag against thearms t, in which case the tripping device will swing to a position between the parallel arms. The housing may then be rocked in any suitable manner so as to dispose the protruding end of the housing within the car as well as disposing the two arms at in positions whereby the mail bag may be easily removed. In fact, when the tripping device collapses inwardly toward the car, it being pivoted at 21, will cause the whole mechanism to swing inwardly, and the trip may then be grasped and used for rocking the mechanism, al-

though it is possible to do this by any other suitable means or by simply grasping the housing for imparting thereto a partial rotating movement.

The invention having been set forth, whatis claimed is:

1. A mail bag setting device comprising a pair of parallel arms provided at opposite ends with means for pivotally mounting them on the opposite sides of a mail car door frame, a housing carried at one end of said arms, a mail bag catcher arm having a pivotal mounting in said housing and provided with means for yieldingly impelling it toward said parallel arms, and a toggle joint tripping arm having one of its elements pivotally mounted at its extremity at the ends of the parallel arms remote from the housing and the other element having a terminal engaging a seat in the catcher arm, said elements having abutting ends normally holding the elements in ap iiroxin'iate alignment, and the p rallel arms normally holding the trioping arm in a position for impact with a mail sack at or adjacent the point of connection between its elements.

3. A mail bag setting device comprising a pair of parallel arms provided at opposite ends with means for pivotally mounting them on the opposite sides at a mail car door frame, a housing carried at one end of said arms, a drum enclosed within the housing and pivotally mounted between said arms, a mail bag catcher arm projecting radially from said drum and extending through a slot in the housing, a flexible member traversing the drum and connected at one end to said arm, a spring connecting the other end of said flexible member with a point in the housing, and a toggle joint tripper arm having one of its elements piv'otally mounted between the parallel arms at the end remote from the housing and the other element provided with a terminal for engagement with a seat in the catcher arm when the latter is disposed at an angle in divergence with the parallel arms.

In testimony whereof he allixcs his signature:

MEDERICK HOULE. 

